Bearing



April 4, 1939. F. scHANzER BEARING Filed Dec. ll, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 o Il /ventort' FEL/x SCHANZER 2&2 M

Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application December 11, 1937, Serial No. 179,233 -In Germany December 21, 1936 3 Claims.

This invention relates to bearings, and refers more particularly to divided ball-bearings, rollerbearings, and the like.

In prior art, several attempts were made to 5 use roller-bearings or ball-bearings the rings of which were made of several portions; the contacting surfaces of these portions extending in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the rollers or balls. While such divided bearings are very advantageous for manufacturing and assembly purposes, they have the disadvantage that the rollers or balls of the bearings come in contact with the joints interconnecting the separate ring portions. 'I'he forces continually transmitted by the balls or rollers to the contacting ringV portions gradually cause the formation of a space between them and result finally in irreparable damage to the bearing. Due to this drawback. each supporting ring of ball-bearings,

roller-bearings, and the like is now made of one piece, even though such construction is often very inconvenient.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a bearing, the balls, rollers, or other rotary elements of which are carried by supports consisting of separate pieces, said supports being-so arranged that the rotary elements do not contact the interengaging portions of these pieces, so that this bearing `will have all the advantages of a divided bearing without having the disadvantages thereof.

Another object is the provision of a ball bearing, Vroller bearing, or the like, the rings of which consist of several pieces, said bearing being so v constructed that the rotary elements thereof will not have any detrimental'effect upon the contacting portions of said several pieces. Other objects are obvious, or will be apparent in the course of the following description.

40 The objecls of the present invention may be realized through the provision of a bearing, the supporting rings of which comprise inter-engaging pairs of ribs or supports which carry the rotary elements of the ybearing and which diverge in relation to the direction of movement of the rotary elements. Furthermore, these ribs or supports are upwardly inclined in relation to the direction of this movement, so that the rotary elements roll upon them in a manner which is 'I similar to the movements of an upwardly rolling ball. The inclined and diverging ribs are so arranged that before the rotary element reaches the end oi one pair of ribs, two points upon the outer surface oi' this element, which are situ- 5 ated lower than the point of contact of said element with said pair, engage another pair of ribs. The contacting surfaces between the various pieces of the supporting rings extend in broken lines transversely to the direction of movement of the rotary elements, so that the rotary ele- 6 ments are at no time in contact with the contact; ing portions or joints of these separate pieces.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. 10 showing by way of example preferred embodifments of the inventive idea.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows in side elevation a roller bearing constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a section through the roller bearing along the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the development of the outer supporting surface of the roller 20 bearing, as seen from the inside of the ring coml prising such surface.

Figure 4 is similar to Figure 3 and shows diagrammatically two separate pieces of a supporting ring;

Figure 5 is similar to Figure 3 and shows the supporting surface in perspective, said surface being shown for the sake of clarity as extending along a fiat surface instead of a cylindrical one;

Figure 6 shows three different rotary elements; 30

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the outer cylindrical surface of the inner ring of the ball bearing; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view showing the vinner cylindrical surface of the outer ring of the ball 35 bearing.

The bearing shown in the drawing comprises an outer ring 9 and an inner ring I 0, as well as rotary elements such as balls Il situated between these rings. In accordance with the present in- 40 vention, the inner surfaces of the outer ring 9 and the outer cylindrical surfaces of the inner ring I0 are provided with guides or ribs I2.

These ribs form inter-engaging pairs which diverge in relation to each other and to the circumferential axis of the rings." The rib of each pair constitutes the continuation of a rib of another pair and has an end which is situated intermediate the ends of that rib. However, the ribs I2 diverge in suchmanner that the centers of the rotary bodies Il always lie upon the same radius. Furthermore, the ribs I2 of the ring I0 diverge in the opposite direction to the directionof the ribs l2 upon the ring 9, as indicated by the arrows I3 and Il inFigure 1. The ribs I2 are Il slightly inclined in relation to the axis of movement of the rotary body I I, so that the movement of the rotary body along the ribs is similar to that of a .ball rolling upon an upwardly inclined surface.

Due to the fact that the ribs I2 upon opposed guiding surfaces extend in different directions, the balls or the rotary elements I I can move more freely between these rings in both directions, i. e. in the directions of the two arrows I3 and I4.

As shown more clearly in Figure 1, the inner ring I9 consists of three separate pieces IOI, |02, and |03, while the outer ring 9 comprises three different pieces 9|, 92, and 99. Obviously, the rings 9 or I9 may consist of any suitable number of separate parts or pieces, and the contacting surfaces of two adjacent pieces may be arranged upon any pair of ribs.

lAs shown more clearly in Figure 2 of the drawings, channels or grooves I5 within which the rotary bodies II are situated, are formed between the guides or ribs I2. 'I'he rotary bodies extend between the ribs I2 and cannot fall out sidewise, so that the bearing can be used without a cage or other means generally used in the art for maintaining the balls within the ball bearing. The channels I5 formed between the ribs I2 havethe further advantage that they prevent the dirtying of the surfaces along which the rotary elements II are moved. Furthermore, these channels prevent a deterioration of the running surfaces, caused by weather conditions.

Figures 3 and 4 which illustrate diagramf matically upon a plane a part'of the surfaces of the outer ring 9 upon which the rotary elements II are moved show a part of the ring portion 9 and an adjacent part of the ring portion 93. 'Ihe end surfaces I9, I1, IB, I9 and 29 of the ring portion 9| contact the surfaces 2|, 22, 23, 24, and 25, respectively, of the ring portion 93. These contacting surfaces extend, therefore, in broken lines transversely to the axis of movement of the rotary body I and between the pairs of ribs I2.

It is apparent that the rotary bodies II `moving from the ring element 9I to the ring element 93 will not touch any of these contacting surfaces, since a rotary body II rolling upon the ribs I2I (Fig. 3) will move from them to the adjacent pair of ribs |22 while passing through that portion of the ring 9 which extends from the end surface 26 to theend surface 29: the rotary body II will contact the ribs |22 before leaving the ribs I2I, the point of contact at the body II with the ribs |22 being lower than its point of contact with the ribs I2I.

While Figures 3 to 5 show for simplicitys sake the ribs I2 as extending along a fiat surface, actually these ribs extend along a cylindrical surface, as is apparent from Figures 7 and 8 of the drawings. Obviously, the path of movement of the center of each rotary body II is parallel to the bottomsurface 29 of the grooves I5. The

' points of contact of the rotary bodies II with the ribs I2 change continually, so that the rotary bodies roll along conical lines.

Figure 6 illustrates rotary bodies III and II2, which may be used in lieu of the balls II The described ball bearings may be used for any purpose and may be subjected to longitudinal pressure as well as to transverse pressure. If the bearing is to be subjected primarily toaxial pressure, the groove I5 may be made Wider, so that the rotary bodies II will be located more deeply within that groove. On the other hand, if the bearing is to be subjected primarly to transverse pressure, the groove I5 should be made more narrow.

The described bearings may be inserted into machines by various means, for instance, they may be placed into casings, sleeves, or the like.

In certain instances the inner divided ring I9 may be eliminated and substituted by a one-piece ring or the balls II may be caused to roll upon the smooth surface of a shaft or the like. Furthermore, several inner and outer rings with diverging guiding ribs may be arranged one next to the other. In general, the described structures are subject to Wide variation and modification without departing from the scope or intent of the invention, all of which variations and modifications are to be included within the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A supporting surface for a rolling rotary body, said supporting surface consisting of at least two inter-engaging parts and Vcomprising at least two pairs of ribs engaging said rotary body, a groove being formed between said ribs, the rib of each pair constituting the continuation of a rib of another pair and having an end which is situated intermediate the ends ofthe 'last-mentioned rib, said pairs of ribs diverging and being upwardly inclined in relation to the axis of movement' of the rolling rotary body, whereby the rotary body moves upon said ribs in a manner similar to the rolling of a sphere upon an upwardly inclined surface, and whereby the rotary body before leaving one pair of ribs is in engage' ment with another-.pair of ribs at points of contact which are lower than the points of contact of the rotaryv body with the first-mentioned pair of ribs, the contacting surfaces of said two parts extending in broken lines transversely to said axis of movement and between said pairs of ribs.

2. A bearing for a rotary body, saidv bearing comprising an outer-divided ring having an inner FELIX SCHANZER.

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